Laws About Buttons at Work Continue to Confound Employers

In-N-Out Burger has a uniform policy that forbids employees from wearing buttons, pins, or stickers on their uniforms because the burger chain wants to create the public image of a “sparkling clean” restaurant. This policy was challenged by workers who were refused to remove a “Fight for Fifteen” button. Let’s get to the law. First,…
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Buckeye Fans: Is a Red Shirt, Grey Pants Dress Code an Unlawful Anti-Union Policy?

In the early 2000’s the United Autoworkers (UAW) unions began trying to organize the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi. Nearly 15 years later, it’s still trying. According to the UAW, “many” Nissan employees recently began wearing pro-union t-shirts and hats to work. In response the company changed its almost anything goes dress code to one…
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D.C. Circuit Catches National Labor Relations Board Not Following its Own 2-Step Test on Whether A Handbook Policy Interfered with Employees’ Section 7 Rights

World of Color Corp. prohibits employees from wearing any baseball caps except for caps bearing the company logo, and those caps must be worn with the bill facing forward. The Teamsters took issue with the policy and filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company saying that the policy interfered with workers’ rights under…
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NLRB Rules On T-Shirts and Baseball Hats

Remember when AT&T employees were allowed to wear t-shirts that read “Inmate #….” on the front while making house calls next door to a federal prison? Imagine the freight of people who opened their door thinking that an escaped convict was on their doorstep. Those t-shirts were protected activity because the workers who wore them…
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